“Coming Home” – Day 8
November 22, 2008 by Mike Hingson · 2 Comments
November 20, 2008, 4:30 PM
Well here we are day 8, the final day of in-home training. Time sure flies! It’s a sad day, and it’s a happy day. It’s a sad time because it will be the end of our time together with Todd. Todd lived up to his reputation of being the best. As I said before I have never trained with Todd although he was the one who trained Roselle. I could not have asked for a better person to help Africa and I begin our journey together.
On the other hand, it is a happy day because of all that Todd has done to prepare Africa and because of all the work that Todd, Africa, and I have had the pleasure of accomplishing together over the past 8 days. Todd has helped lay a great foundation which will allow Africa and me to have many great adventures and wonderful travel experiences for many years to come.
You guessed it, Todd arrived promptly at 9 AM to begin this last training day. Africa was so excited to see him that I decided it would be a good idea to do a little bit of obedience work to refocus her before we left the house. I wrote in previous entries about the way obedience exercises can be used to regain a guide dog’s focus.
After obedience we left the house and headed into San Francisco and the Embarcadero area. We arrived near the Embarcadero at around 10 AM.
I should take a moment and explain what the Embarcadero is. It is a large complex of four sizable buildings which make up one of San Francisco’s premier shopping centers and office complexes. There is also a Hyatt Regency Hotel in the Embarcadero Center and there are several other major hotels in the general vicinity. In all, the Embarcadero Center and the surrounding area is quite a bustling place.
We parked a few blocks away from the Embarcadero so we can get in a nice walk and a train ride before going to the center itself. After leaving our van we walked about a block and then took a flight of stairs down into an open park. We decided to do some obedience exercises in the park to see how Africa would react around the hundreds of pigeons who made that area their home, at least during the day. Every so often Africa took a brief look at the pigeons but was not bothered by them at all. They did not prove to be any kind of distraction during her obedience work nor at any other time during the day.
I forgot to mention that before leaving the van I helped Africa on with her booties. Since we would be doing some escalator work that day the booties were called for. Africa seem to do a little better today with the booties although I have never felt that they really bothered her.
After leaving the park we walked another few blocks and finally reached the nearest Muni station where we planned to catch the subway. After going on a nice long escalator and walking through the turnstiles we waited for the train to arrive. While waiting Todd showed me how Africa had been trained to avoid the drop offs on subway platforms. I was aware of this, but I appreciated the reminder. Also it is good to see how much more subway platform training has improved.
The idea here is to make sure that when on a subway platform the blind handler is not put in danger of falling off the platform and onto the subway tracks. The student guide dogs are shown the edges of the subway platform and they are encouraged to look down onto the tracks to see how far they and their handlers would fall if they remain too close. The training of the dogs includes the use of clickers and food rewards to make sure that the dogs stay far away from the edges. Now the training goes so far that when a blind handler commands their dog to go forward and in so moving they might come close to or walk off the edge of the subway platform the dog physically turns the team away from the platform at least two or 3 feet before the team gets to the edge. When possible the dog will turn so that it is between the blind person and the platform. Of course, if there is a train in the station and the handler tells the dog to go forward toward the edge of the platform the dog will do so by going to the nearest door which would lead onto a train car. A dog properly trained will even distinguish between doors into the car and the space where two cars are coupled together. In all this training is quite extensive and is certainly gotten better over the years. I think that this is in part because more and more blind people are out in the workforce or are out traveling about cities and other areas where subways and trains are present.
After the train arrived and we boarded we took a short ride, (probably about six blocks), and then disembarked for our walk back to the Embarcadero Center. What we in fact did was traveled from one side of the Embarcadero Center to the other. This would make it possible for us to walk through the Embarcadero before returning to our van.
After leaving the train station and going up another long escalator we traveled two or three blocks before reaching the Embarcadero Center proper. We entered the center by going through a revolving door. Yes, the dogs are trained to do that. The easiest way to go through revolving doors is to drop the harness handle, heal the dog on the right side of the handler, and then walked together through the turning door. This keeps the dog on the inside of the turn as we go through the door and thus keeps it safer and less likely to have any part of it caught in the door. In effect, the handler is somewhat between the dog and the revolving door. There are some large revolving doors, such as the one at Portland airport, that permit the dog and handler to walk without the use of any special techniques. There was also a door like that at the Marriott World Trade Center. That revolving door was so large that it actually had a small flower gardens mounted to the insides of the doors so that as people were entering and leaving they got a nice view of some flowers to brighten their day.
After entering Embarcadero 1 we decided to locate a Mexican restaurant called Chevys for lunch. Chevys was located on the third floor. To justify the use of Africa’s booties we used escalators to get up to the restaurant. I was curious to see how Africa would do with her booties during the down time of our lunch period. I wanted to learn if she would get bored and try to take them off or whether she would even care. I was pleased to see that she left him alone and just decided to take a nap. Meanwhile, Todd and I had some nice fragrant quesadillas which Africa ignored. Good for her!
By the time lunch was over it was about a 1:45. We walked back to the van, going through the pigeon park on our way, and made it back to our vehicle by around 2:30 PM. Since Africa had worn her booties all day I took them off before we left San Francisco. We arrived back in Novato a little after 3 PM. In all it was another great training Day. It was a perfect end to our training and to our work with Todd.
I cannot end the discussion of this part of Africa’s and my adventures together without once again acknowledging Todd Jurek and the wonderful job he did with it for us and that he does every day. He is a master trainer who deserves the high accolades and great reputation that he has. I saw it with Roselle and I saw it again with Africa except that this time I got to be a part of the training process with Todd. Todd deserves and has my highest praise. I must say that he is not alone, however. I have found that all of the trainers at Guide Dogs for the Blind are excellent and much attention is paid in the training department to ensuring that they all have good people skills. They are great teachers.I urged anyone who wants a guide dog to consider Guide Dogs for the Blind as the school they attend. With leaders such as Todd Jurek, Adam Wasco, and Terry Barrett you can’t go wrong.
Now, our training is over. However the adventure has just begun. I will write again soon about Africa’s and my first weeks together. I’m sure the time will pass quickly and it won’t be long until December 4 and we fly to Minneapolis for a speaking engagement. This will be Africa’s first time on an airplane. Check back again soon for our next installment.
“Independence Day” – Day 7
November 21, 2008 by Mike Hingson · 1 Comment
November 19, 2008, 9:09 PM
Thus far my work and bonding with Africa have been progressing well. Already we have had many adventures. Yesterday Todd informed me that today our first route was to be the infamous “independent route”. It is a route that is considered “independent” because the trainer does not walk with the student and dog. Usually, the student is told their starting location and then, when dropped off, they are asked to make their way to the Guide Dog lounge.
The route is not overly challenging to anyone who has good mobility skills. In a training center where blind people are learning to walk as blind people they will travel many independent routes including some where no instructor is observing them. These are true independent routes where blind people are expected to gain confidence in their own ability to travel from place to place. The GDB independent route is designed to get the dog used to walking without their former trainer nearby. The route can be a bit of a test of a blind person’s orientation and mobility skills. However, GDB is not really providing orientation and mobility training so it is expected that blind students are already capable of walking routes independently especially one of the difficulty of the kind Africa and I traveled.
Once again Todd arrived at 9 sharp. After discussing Africa’s adjustment and behavior from last evening, (no problems), off we went to downtown San Rafael and our walk. Todd dropped me off at third and Lootens St. it was my job to get to the GDB downtown lounge while Todd did his best to stay out of Africa’s sight. To explain further, at this point in our training Todd is still a security blanket for Africa. She knows him better than me. In a sense she relies on having him around and although I am the one giving her commands she has not totally made the transition of loyalty from Todd to me. During our first six days of training Africa would look around from time to time to see if Todd was close by. Today would be something different as Todd would not be in sight, or at least that was the theory.
To get from third and Lootens to the lounge all I had to do was to walk up Lootens to 4th St and then to walk up 4th St until I got to the lounge which was located between E. and F. I brought along my BrailleNote Sendero GPS system in order to do some experimentation toward developing some possible GPS training for GDB.
Before starting out I notified Todd that I would be stopping at RadioShack along the way. RadioShack is located between C. and D. streets and thus it was right on my way to the lounge. With all the preliminaries out of the way I embarked on this latest adventure. Of course, on principle, I had programmed the route into the GPS system so I allowed it to tell us where we were and how to get where we needed to go. I even had it tell me when we got close to the RadioShack.
The trip went well. When I was in the vicinity of RadioShack I asked a passerby to help me locate the specific door. As often happens in such cases the person I asked said “I don’t know where that is”. When asking the question I indicated that I knew it was close by, but as usual, people don’t seem to pay attention to that part of my question. I informed the person again at RadioShack should be within just a few feet and finally the person looked around and, what a surprise, saw the store, one door away.
Anyway, I went into RadioShack and purchased a small speaker which I needed. I then left the store and continued on my way to the lounge. As I walk toward D. street Africa began looking around for Todd. She had done a little of this during the first part of our walk, but now she became more intense about it. With some encouragement and praise I refocused her. We continued to walk past a D. toward E. Street. Again, Africa looked around for Todd a bit. Todd informed me later that he had a real hard time keeping completely out of sight and that Africa spotted him more than once. I figured as much. It is almost like a game of cat and mouse between Africa and Todd. However, Africa needed to learn that Todd was not the boss and that she had to focus on my commands. She really did a pretty good job. She is a very bright dog and I think she got the message.
After crossing E. Street we continued on to the lounge without incident. I don’t think Africa looked around for Todd once on that final block. When I got to the lounge I discovered that there was a GDB van there with some trainers and some applicants engaged in a multi-day assessment. One of the wonderful programs offered by GDB is a process by which some potential students can come to GDB for a three day assessment of whether or not they would be good candidates for using a guide dog. Most people only go through a home interview and a telephone interview. Some people have more challenges which require a more in-depth assessment on both sides. These people come to GDB and spent some time working with a guide dog as well as doing Juno work to see how well a guide dog will fit their needs and lifestyle. I think there were four students at the lounge when we arrived.
About a minute after I arrived at the lounge Todd appeared. He was very pleased with the walk and Africa’s behavior, Africa searching for him notwithstanding. The important thing was that Africa re-focused when I asked her to do so. Todd and I both felt the walk was good, Africa’s guiding was good, and that we were progressing well.
We decided to walk back down 4th St and find a place to have lunch. Eventually we settled on The Broken Drum, a microbrewery between and B streets. Although a bit noisy, the place wasn’t too bad. It was a little bit of a different experience for Africa, which is why we decided to stop there. She was not bothered by the noise and distractions at all, no surprise to me.
After lunch we returned to the van and traveled to GDB for a consultation with the veterinarian staff. Every student has a vet consult to learn about the medical history of their guide.
All of the reports on Africa were very good ones. The only interesting thing that I learned was that Africa has swallowed a couple of socks in her lifetime. No surgery was required to remove them from her system, however. Meeting with the vet staff is always good because we learned much about our dog’s behavior and habits from the puppy reports they share with us. Forewarned is forearmed. Now I know that Africa is a potential scrounger. And she looks so innocent too!
After the vet consult we returned home and called it a day. I must say that if all of our training progress sounds too positive and too good to be true it isn’t. Sometimes things go extremely well and sometimes they do not. Sometimes progress depends on how the student reacts to unexpected behaviors of the dog. As I said before this is as much a training time for the student as it is for the dog. It’s a time to sharpen our skills and to be reminded of how to encourage the best behaviors out of our new guides. I’m very pleased that training is going so well with Africa.
I remember a time with my third dog, Klondike, when he showed a fear reaction to walking in downtown San Francisco. It took a lot of work to encourage him to do his job. We worked through the problems and then Klondike guided for 10 years. For my part, I learned a lot from the challenges I faced with Klondike during training. Terry Barrett, now GDB Director of Training, Admissions, and Graduate Services, was the training supervisor during my class with Klondike. I will never forget Terry’s encouragement and wisdom. His ideas and suggestions stay with me always and always come to mind whenever I faced a training challenge. It is good not to have major difficulties at this point in our training, but I know that if they occur GDB and I have the tools to surmount them.
Tomorrow is our last day of training! Todd suggests that we go back into San Francisco where we can ride the subway, called the Muni, and then walk around Embarcadero Center. It sounds like a pretty full day with lots of distractions and lots of good guide exercise for Africa and me. Come back tomorrow to read the results.
“Training Day” – Day 3
November 17, 2008 by Mike Hingson · 1 Comment
November 14, 2008. 4:30 P.M.
Lookout San Francisco, here comes Africa. Before we began our training earlier this week Todd asked me to give him a list of areas of work I wanted to cover during training. I indicated that I wanted to do as much big-city work as possible since I knew a lot of my travels take me to larger metropolitan areas. Although I am gaining quite a bit of confidence in Africa already I think it is important to work different areas and different scenarios in order for Africa and me to become used to each other in many different environments. Also, training is the time to learn new techniques as well is brush up on the old ones. Finally, training is a great time to hone my reaction skills since movements with a new dog are always sharper and more crisp. My job is to keep those crisp reactions on both our parts as long as possible.
Clicker training and food rewards are not new at GDB. However, I know that I have not been in the habit of using them to their best advantage. During this time with Todd I intend to make every effort to strengthen the habit of using these powerful tools appropriately.
Todd arrived as usual at 9 a.m. sharp. After spending a few minutes discussing the previous days events including how we all fared last evening it was off to the City. Todd decided that we would do a “pretty easy” route this morning. We drove into the city, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, and drove to an area near Chestnut and Fillmore streets. Todd explained that we were going to do a little bit of bus work by walking to the northeast corner of Chestnut and Fillmore where we would catch a bus at a bus stop often frequented by GDB trainers and students.
By the way, a wrinkle I introduced into this morning’s trip was that I carried with me at talking GPS system, the Trekker Breeze. The Breeze is a very easy to use system intended to be used during orientation and training as well as by people who do not want a complicated GPS product and who only plan on walking simple routes. Through The Michael Hingson Group I have been talking with GDB about exploring ways to use the Breeze during in class training. My plan was to identify a “landmark” with the Breeze during our walk today, move several blocks away from the landmark and then asked the Breeze to plan a route back to the landmark.
We arrived in San Francisco a little after 10. On the way to our parking place Todd drove by the bus stop at Chestnut and Fillmore so I could identify it as my landmark for the Breeze. After parking I asked the Breeze to create a route to the bus stop. I then followed that route. The Breeze created a route which was easy to follow and which provided good instructions every step of the way. Africa was great as usual. The sidewalk was pretty empty and so it wasn’t long before we reached the bus stop.
A bus soon arrived which we boarded. Soon we proceeded on our way. We traveled about six blocks and then disembarked for the walk back to the bus stop and eventually the van.
Again, I asked the Breeze to create a route back to the bus stop. The walk was uneventful. I was pleased with what I learned about using the Breeze during training. This was just the first experiment. We have a long way to go before deciding that GPS could be a part of in-class use. We did encounter a few dogs and pedestrian obstacles on the way back to the bus stop, but Africa handled them with aplomb and grace. Can you tell I’m already getting prejudiced toward Africa?
After reaching the bus stop we walked around the area a bit more. We made our traditional morning stop at a local coffee shop, this time Starbucks, where I had my usual cup of tea and Todd had his usual cup of coffee. Africa had no complaints as she was making out pretty well in the food reward department.
A little after Noon we returned to the van where we decided to go to Fisherman’s Wharf for lunch and another workout through crowds of people. Several times during our three days of training Todd mentioned a place in San Francisco that served New England clam chowder in a sourdough loaf bowl. Well, with that as a hint it seemed reasonable while in the city to find this restaurant and enjoy the food. Actually, Boudin is a sourdough bread making company which also serves sandwiches and soups in sourdough bread bowls. It is one of the most famous sourdough bread manufacturers in the City.
We parked several blocks away from the restaurant and worked a route to it. After lunch, which incidentally was wonderful, we walked around Fisherman’s Wharf to give Africa lots of opportunity to work in and through crowds of people. There were lots of dogs around to distract her. However, she did well.
By 2:30 p.m. we were ready to call it a day and travel back to Novato. In all it was a great day. Todd and I were both pleased with the performance of the team. I think Africa is settling in nicely and we are beginning to bond just as we should.
After returning home Todd and I made plans for our Saturday trip. Yes, Saturday is a training day as well. We agreed to meet about nine o’clock Saturday morning to walk around downtown Novato and do a little bit of shopping in the local Costco. After shopping and returning home we would switch to our personal van and travel with my wife Karen to one of our favorite wineries in the Carneros region just outside Napa. Saturday is beginning to sound like a pretty full day, but I think will survive it. Come back tomorrow to learn how Africa survived a day in Wine Country.
“Miss Congeniality” – Day 1
November 15, 2008 by Mike Hingson · Leave a Comment
11/12/2008, 4:28 PM
Todd and Africa showed up at 9:00AM. We picked up right where we left off on October 27. Africa spent several minutes running around the house finding all of Roselle’s and Fantasia’s toys. She even discovered our cat Sherlock. That meeting went a lot better than I had expected. Sherlock’s philosophy is why stay when you can hide. He didn’t run away from Africa which is really a good sign. Also, Africa did not try to chase him. Some positive avoidance can be a good thing in the beginning of a dog-cat relationship.
After going over all the equipment that was issued in order to work with Africa including her harness and leash, some booties we will use during escalator work, her gentle leader sometimes referred to as a Haultie or head collar, some new toys immediately discovered and snatched by Roselle, and a clicker which I will discuss more later in my training, we left for our first walk. Typically in class this would be a very short get acquainted kind of walk. However I was doing in-home training and I had 44 years of guide dog experience to rely on so we decided to extend the usual 10 to 15 minute walk.
Todd, Africa, and I drove up to Novato where we spent the next hour and a half walking around downtown. We found a few good unusual travel areas including an offset sidewalk and a street with an island in the middle of the crossing where we had to stop and wait for a second traffic light. Another interesting thing about the island and the curbs on both sides of the street was that all of the curbs were flat. Africa did a great job of stopping even at the flat curbs. These curbs are so constructed such that the street and sidewalks meet without any step down or ramp from the sidewalk to the street. Guide dog training has advanced so far that these incredible dogs know about these flat curbs and stop for them just as they do for any other curb. I was appropriately impressed.
Along the way we stopped at Dr. Insomnia’s coffee shop for a spot of tea for me and a cup of coffee for Todd. On the way into the shop we passed an outside table where three dogs were lounging. Again, Africa did a great job of ignoring these dogs. She took one look and then as soon as I said “hop-up” she refocused and headed straight for the door into the shop.
The only real challenge we faced during this first walk was that there were a few places along the way where some bushes is stuck out on my right side and which Africa failed to pass without me brushing against them. When she is guiding perfectly I should not hit these bushes. Instead Africa should’ve moved a bit more to the left so that I would avoid them. After a few corrections she recognized her mistakes and worked flawlessly the rest of the way.
After out nearly 2-mile walk we got back in Todd’s van and decided to continue the day in downtown San Rafael. We drove to the Guide Dogs lounge on 4th St in San Rafael where we parked the car and decided to walk on 4th St down toward A Street where there were several restaurants we could explore for lunch. We finally decided on Barney’s burgers which was passed A Street still on fourth going toward Lincoln. Todd and I decided to sit outside both because the day was nice and because I was curious to see how Africa would do with all the distractions of sitting at an outside table. As I have come to expect she did a great job.
After our turkey burgers Todd and I walked back to the lounge where we boarded the van for the trip home. In all it was a great first day. I couldn’t have asked for a better workout. I was very impressed with the level of Africa’s performance especially not for knowing me other than for one brief walk two weeks before.
Africa and I spent the rest of the afternoon getting to know each other better in a relaxed home environment. She discovered Fantasia’s squeaky ball and proceeded to run around the house with it. Thus far she and Roselle have not played much together but I am sure that will come. It will get even more interesting once Fantasia returns home. I expect we should see some real competition for the squeaky ball.
Already I think the potential for a really strong match exists between Africa and me. She has more of the personality that I seek in a guide dog then did my previous dog. Meryl was much too serious and didn’t handle stress well. It was because of her inability to deal with stress that I had to retire her. I learned yesterday that she has gone back to live with her puppy raisers in Nevada. Good for Meryl! She deserves a more sedate life. She has earned it.
I have spent quite a lot of time on the first two entries in this journal because I want to make sure that I document the processes I encountered along the road to receiving Africa. A lot went into preparing both of us for this day. All the preparation is what will make it possible for us to form a good solid bond. It is my belief that it takes up to a year to form our bond and for each of us, human and guide dog alike, to become so comfortable with each other that we get to that state where we can intuit the other’s feelings and state of mind. Creating a bond with a guide dog is just like building any worthwhile strong team except in the case of the human-dog team building process I am working with a creature who thinks and communicates in a completely different manner than does any human. As I am fond of saying in my speeches I have learned more about teambuilding and team relationships from working now with seven dogs than I have ever learned from all of the management theory courses I have taken and all of the Ken Blanchard and other management experts’ books combined.
10:00 PM. It is now late in the evening and time to go to bed and prepare for tomorrow. What a great first day this has been with Africa. I will report on developments tomorrow after we returned home from our travels.
My New Guide Dog “Africa” – Her Daily Training Journal
November 15, 2008 by Mike Hingson · 1 Comment
Wednesday, November 12, 2008, 7:11 AM
The day has finally come. This is the day I receive Africa, my new guide dog. Africa is the seventh guide I have had the pleasure of working. All seven guide dogs were trained at Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael California. I received my first guide dog on June 28, 1964 when I was but 14 years of age. That day is still as fresh in my mind as if it happened only this year.
My fifth guide dog, “Roselle”, is by far the most famous one of them all as she was with me when I worked and escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. You can learn more of Roselle’s life elsewhere on my web site.
In March of 2007 Roselle retired and I was joined by my sixth guide dog, Meryl. Unfortunately, Meryl only worked for about a year and a half before the stressful job of guiding became too much for her and she had to retire. Guiding is not an easy job. Only about 50% of the Labrador Retrievers who enter the program a guide dogs for the blind actually succeed and go home with blind people as part of a person-guide dog team. Some guides go home only to discover that guiding isn’t their thing. Meryl retired officially on September 18, 2008.
As an aside, I should explain that the reason the success rate for labs is only about 50% comes not from the fact that the other 50% are not as bright or is good. Dogs are just like people. Each one has its own personality. Some dogs work well as guides while others do not. Some people are very successful and seem to adapt well to some jobs but not to others. We learned a long time ago not to say that the dogs that do not make it as guides are failures, but rather they are “career change”. Some of the career changed dogs leave GDB in order to perform other jobs such as cancer detection and to do work with the military in drug and explosives investigation. Some career change guide dog puppies have gone on to work with persons with diabetes. These “Dogs for Diabetics” are taught how to warn their handlers of drastic changes in their blood sugar levels and thus prevent the onset of hypoglycemic or insulin reactions.
Back to Africa. Immediately upon Meryl’s retirement the search began for a successor guide dog for me. The process of matching a blind person with a guide dog is a very complex one. It is important to find a dog that can match its blind handler’s pace, walking patterns, temperament, as well as having a personality which will fit into its handler’s daily way of life. There is a good reason why Guide Dogs for the Blind calls the decision to use a guide dog a “lifestyle choice”. Part of the process which every team goes through is the forming and building of the relationship which will dictate how human and dog will interact with each other during their time together.
For me when preparing for Africa it helps that I have had six previous guidedogs all from the same school. Even though Guide Dogs for the Blind has amassed quite a bit of information about my needs and desires concerning a guide dog match I still went through a home interview and a brief walk with the local GDB field rep, Marc Gillard. We did the interview at the same time he came to fetch Meryl back in September.
The next event was an e-mail from Charles Nathan, the Guide Dogs Director of Training in San Rafael. Charles e-mailed me around the 20th of October to tell me that he believed that a match had been found for me. He wanted me to take a test walk with the dog to seeif I felt we might have a match. Charles informed me that the dog’s name was Africa and that she was a small yellow Labrador. As soon as I saw the name I realized that there was another reason why GDB may in fact have found a good match. Africa is one of the puppies from the second litter of our GDB breeder, Fantasia. Fantasia has lived with us for a little more than two years. One of our close family friends, Linda Lewis, had suggested the name Africa when we learned that Fantasia’s second litter would all have names beginning with the letter A. I knew that if Africa was anything like her mom we had the potential for a great match. Fantasia’s personality was more suited to what I desired and felt would be best for my lifestyle. If Africa’s personality and demeanor were anything like her mother she was certainly worth a look.
On October 27 Todd Jurek brought Africa to our home for our test walk. We spent three hours traveling around our neighborhood as well as through downtown Novato. We also went to a restaurant, and spent some time at the local Peet’s coffee just so I could observe Africa in a variety of settings. Afterward I told Todd that I thought Africa was a good match and that we should go ahead. Todd was Roselle’s trainer and as I learned that day he trained Africa as well. I didn’t have Todd as an instructor when I was matched with Roselle. I asked that if at all possible I would like to work with him to do my training with Africa. I learned later that week that we could start training the week of November 10 and that Todd indeed would be my instructor. It doesn’t get better than that.